Inuko
by Monica Moss
Summary: A rooftop meeting between a thief and a detective ... a little different from when they'd first met.


**Thanks to those of you who have read/reviewed/followed/favorited my stories in the DCMK fandom: Kid's Cape, Mouri Fools, and Officer Potter: Division II. I apologize here in advance for the use of puns.**

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><p>The full-sized Kudou Shin'ichi stared at the Kaitou Kid. He knew the guy's sanity was questionable, but really, what was he thinking?<p>

The two men were the only ones standing on the hotel's rooftop at two in the morning, but Kudou didn't dare take a shot at Kid with what the thief held in his arms. He frowned, thinking for half a second that perhaps Kid had brought it to the heist just to prevent him from kicking a soccer ball at him. But that couldn't be the reason, could it?

Shin'ichi stared at the pink bundle of blankets in Kid's arms. "Isn't this completely irresponsible, even for you? Where are the parents anyway?"

"Sh!" Kid hissed. "It is way past her bedtime."

The detective couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I bet she still keeps her parents up all night. Why talk about bedtime?"

"I thought you should meet her. I mean, she is named for you."

"Her parents?" Shin'ichi prodded. "Where are they?"

"Don't worry: she's in her father's arms. Being the responsible parent that I am, I couldn't leave her behind as I went and stole something."

"Oh, so responsible parents bring their children to break the law now?" Shin'ichi glared at the thief.

Kid smiled enigmatically.

Shin'ichi decided to let it go. What behavior could he really expect from the infamous thief, after all?

With a sigh, Shin'ichi looked back at Kid's daughter. "And you named her for me?" he asked skeptically.

The thief stepped closer so Shin'ichi could see the kanji of the given name embroidered on his daughter's blanket as he announced, "This is Inuko."

Shin'ichi immediately bristled. "Inuko?" Did Kid think so strongly that detectives are lowly snoops that he'd named his child _dog child?_

The child looked into Shin'ichi's eyes and slowly stuck her tongue out at him, as though rubbing in her father's choice of name.

Kid spoke. "I'm sure you remember the heist aboard the _Victory __Tantei(1)_ three months ago? The one where the mean playground bullies wanted to make things hot for the nice school magician's audience?"

"Don't you mean the one where your rival jewel things almost killed my wife and son in an explosion on the nearby ship your fans were watching from?" Shin'ichi spat, angered by the thief's attitude toward the incident.

Kid nodded, suddenly grim. "My wife was almost killed too. If it hadn't been for you..."

Kid's lips changed again, this time forming a genuine smile. "Well, maybe _victory __tantei_ describes you better than it describes the boat. After all, you saved my wife and child, as well as helped to expose the murderers that I became Kid to bring to justice – well, except for the few stragglers Kid is still rounding up."

The genuine smile disappeared into a smirk. "And thus the name _Inuko_: _inu_ can be taken to mean _snoop_, but it can also be taken to mean _dog_, like the type of code names my enemies used."

"I see," the detective said, smiling at the thief's daughter.

Inuko did her best to mimic Shin'ichi's expression, and shook a fist excitedly at him. Something rattled, and Shin'ichi directed his attention to it.

Shin'ichi almost laughed. "Is that...?" In the baby's fist was a magnifying-glass-shaped rattle.

Kid sighed. "My wife chose a detective to be her godfather, knowing full well that he's trying to catch Kid, and that detective is corrupting my little girl already. Maybe she really will grow up to be my little detective child."

Shin'ichi laughed aloud. After a few minutes, Kid asked, "Are you done now?"

Stifling the last of his laughter, Shin'ichi said something that caught the thief off guard: "I have a confession to make, Kid."

"Oh?" Kid raised an eyebrow.

"Those two guys you helped me take down at Tokyo Station last year – the ones that managed to break your arm – were ones I'd been after for years. Since this happened a little before Ran was due, we wanted to celebrate by naming our son after the occasion. We didn't want to name our son after an alcohol like those guys' code names, so we ended up naming him after you: from _kaitou_, we got _Kaito_." Shin'ichi was done laughing, but he still looked amused as he added, "Right now, Kaito's favorite thing is for his grandpa to read the Night Baron series to him."

Kid chuckled. "So he's gonna be a thief, huh? My daughter will probably chase him around when they're older then, but don't worry – I'll hold her back!"

Seconds later, Shin'ichi fell to the ground unconscious, and Kid tucked away the stun gun he'd hidden under his daughter's blanket. "Sorry, detective, but I can't escape in my usual manner _and_ take my daughter with me safely."

Before the detective could wake up, the thief slipped inside the building and changed into clothes that allowed him to go back home to his civilian life.

About the same time Shin'ichi was telling Ran about meeting Kid's infant daughter later that night, Kaito was laughing as he dodged a mop for not telling his wife that he was taking Inuko to meet his most challenging opponent in the middle of the night. But before long, both men were in bed, dreaming about what the future may hold for their kids.

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><p>1) <em>Tantei<em> can mean boat or detective.


End file.
